“Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (1 Peter 5:9).

To stand firm is an important principle in Scripture.  It is repeated over and over again.  If we know in whom we place our faith, it should be easy to stand firm.  You stand firm on the solid rock of Jesus, because to stand in any other place is to be blown over.  When you suffer, you are not alone.  Be guided by the solid rock that holds you in His hands and know that He will lead you through all difficulties.

Lord, I do falter.  I am shaken by the wind.  I know You are there, but the hot wind of the wicked one howls and I become confused.  Help me to have clarity and in every difficult time just stand firm knowing that You are with me and for me.  There is nothing I will experience that has not been experienced by someone else.  Help me to be comforted in the knowledge of the grace and mercy of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Lord Jesus, You have suffered and know the difficulty there is when one lives in the truth.  You are truth and You have come so that we may have life and have it abundantly, but You did not promise that it would be easy in this world.  Help me remember to pray for others even when I am suffering.  At all times, help me to stand firm in You.  Amen.

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

We are under attack all day long.  Yes, so is everyone else.  There is much devilishness afoot.  Some of the worst of it comes with those who are listening to the wicked one and pretending they are doing good.  Be alert and do not be deceived.  The first step of being alert is to recognize that these are not some fairy tales, but lies being told to you and to live in awareness that we all are under constant attack.

Thank you, Lord, for this warning.  I too fall prey to the wicked one who seeks to lead me astray.  Help me to fear only You.  Guide me in Your goodness to seek You above all things.  Let me not fall prey to the constant temptations that come my way throughout the day.  Lord, teach me how to be on the alert so that I may be aware of all that happens around me and react appropriately.

Lord Jesus, I am unable to fathom how You walked through the heightened and constant attacks of the evil one and yet You remained humble and true to the Father.  Guide me to learn from You so that I too may walk amidst the flaming arrows of the wicked one and remain true to You.  Guide me now and forever to walk in the right way of truth, doing what is pleasing to the Father.  Amen.

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).

Such simple words that speak to the reality that we are often anxious and proud.  The Lord is the One who has all power and all authority is from Him.  Why not turn to the One in whom all things have their being?  He cares for the sparrow that falls from the sky; and He cares for you.  Why do you fret as though you could change anything.  Why not just trust in the One in whom is all power?

Lord, I do not understand why I am on this merry-go-round of thinking that I have any power or authority.  I do not understand even why, in my mind, I insist that things must go the way I think they must go.  Help me, dear Lord, to move beyond myself so that I can live in the truth that You are the One who will cause things to happen as they will.  Help me to learn to live in Your will and trust in Your provision.

Lord Jesus, before You ascended to the Father, You said that all authority belongs to You.  That is easy to understand.  Help me to realize that it really does belong to You and that anything I do is in and under Your authority.  Guide me to learn from You how to be humble, caring for others as You have cared for me.  Lead me to live into the life of one who truly follows Your way.  Amen.

“In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).

It may not seem so at first, but the proud never come to anything.  In the end they fail.  The ones who are looked upon favorably over time are they who have been humbled.  And this is said not so that we would seek either a good or a bad life, but that only in humility do we find the way of Christ made more clear for our journey.

Almighty Father, You sent your only begotten Son to take our place, dying to sin in order that we may live unto eternal life.  He came not to be served, but to serve.  In Him we have our hope and our being.  Help Your people to see that the cure for pride is humility and the example of Christ is the way.  Help us to see clearly that only through the salvation You have prepared can we begin to see the truth of what You have revealed.

Lord Jesus, in humility, You walked the earth.  You have shown us how to be humble.  Lead me in the way of humility, teaching me what it means to be humble.  Lead me to become humble by not thinking only of myself, but live as You lead, doing what You give me to do.  Guide me in the way of everlasting life, living according to the promise given through Your life, death, and resurrection.  Amen.   

“And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away” (1 Peter 5:4).

The crown of glory is not a reward, for Jesus taught us that the best we can do is to simply be obedient.  The crown of glory is the eternal life He has won for us from the cross.  Pride is what has brought sin into the world, so do not think in these terms, but in humility know that your salvation is completely dependent upon our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  By and through Him alone is all hope.

LORD, You have called all who believe out of a downward spiral into an abyss to be united with Christ in order that the One who descended may ascend to show the way for us all.  Turn my eyes to Jesus and show me His glory, the glory of the only Begotten, and remind me that my hope is not in who I am, but in who You are.  Lead me in the way of everlasting life.

Lord Jesus, You have come in order that we may have life abundantly and live freely.  Help me to understand what this means.  Guide me in Your goodness to know that in You alone is all hope.  It was in You, through You and for You that all things were made.  Lead me in the right way, Lord, so that I may live into the hope and promise You give me through the salvation You have prepared before me.  Amen.

“[N]ot pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2b-3).

When you are under the law of love, if we can call it that, you seek to do what is right because it is right.  It is not a matter of doing this because you must, but because, in love, you are doing what the Lord gives you to do and doing it willingly.  In such charity, we are not to lord it over others, but as Christ did, serve all in the name of the Lord.  We are called to become like Christ in all things.

Lord, help me see what You are teaching me.  Help me to have a willing heart in order that I may now and always grow in the faith You have given me through Christ.  Lead me to look at His behavior and emulate His example.  Help me to move beyond myself so that I may progress on the upward path of the salvation You have given me through faith by grace.

Lord Jesus, You are the model of the godly life.  You have served us all by going to the cross so that we would not perish but have everlasting life.  Guide me, Lord, in all of Your ways that I may now and forever be led by You.  I need Your grace; I need Your mercy. Help me to live in the faith You have given me as You teach me and grow in me what You have always intended.  Amen.  

“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them – not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be” (1 Peter 5:2a)

This journey of faith is one that is moving us beyond being obligated for doing things.  Love is not an obligation.  It is to move us into the place where we understand that serving the Lord is what we were created to do.  We serve the One who first served us.  Do not be motivated by obligation, but by every good promise the Lord places before us.  Our hope is in Him alone.

Lord, I know this in the relationships I have on earth.  How is it that this principle which You have placed in me from the beginning is so hard to apply to heavenly things?  You have given me the ability to love.  In You is all hope.  You have led me to trust in Your never-failing promises. Help me learn how to serve because it is pleasing to You.  Guide me in Your goodness and mercy.

Come Holy Spirit and minister to my heart.  You have opened my heart to love and the truth of the Gospel.  You have helped me to see that these things are true.  Guide me dear Lord in the way of everlasting life so that I may always trust in Your guidance through all the travails of this life.  In all that happens, may I be guided by You dear Lord to willingly and freely serve You in love.  Amen.

“To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed” (1 Peter 5:1)

There are the cadre of those who suffer along with Christ.  He has led the way.  Count your sufferings for Christ as a blessing knowing that He who is in You is greater than the ones who bring the suffering.  Look to the glory to be revealed and know that the One who has spoken all things into existence will accomplish all that He has promised.  He is the Alpha and Omega and all things already are according to His will.

Let me not be deceived by this world O Lord.  Guide me in Your goodness to know that in You is all hope and a future.  When I am reviled for Your name’s sake, let me not forget that You suffered first for us all.  Lord, I may not understand these things, but I do hear Your promises.  Guide me Lord so that I may now and always look to You, the One in whom there is all hope.

Lord Jesus, You headed intentionally to the cross.  Lead me in whatever direction You know I need to go.  Guide me in Your goodness and mercy to walk humbly and boldly through all of the trials that will come my way knowing that my life is in You.  Grant that I may be a fellow witness of Your sufferings as I live intentionally in the hope You give me through faith.  Amen.

“So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good” (1 Peter 4:19).

No matter what happens, do what is right.  This seems so simple, yet many do seem to fall away when adversity comes.  Not just in commitment to the Lord, but these days it seems that people have difficulty with many kinds of commitments.  Marriages fall apart, families are abandoned, homes and businesses left behind because of adversity.  To what will you be committed if not to the Lord?

Lord, help me to be a person of integrity.  Guide me in Your goodness to know that in You is all hope and apart from You is godlessness.  Help me to know that I must commit to something.  I must have a direction, for even if I choose to wander, I am choosing a direction.  Guide me Lord so that I may walk the path of the humble who follow You with the purpose You have designed for each one of us.

Lord Jesus, in You is all hope.  You have come in order that we may have life and have it abundantly.  You must lead and I must follow.  You have said that if I follow You there will be suffering.  This age of sin produces suffering.  Lead me, O Lord, away from the way of the wicked so that I may follow You all the days of my life.  Help me to walk through all adversity that comes my way and by Your power.  Amen.

“And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” (1 Peter 4:18)

Do you think lightly of your salvation?  Are you one who thinks a little bit is just fine?  Jesus did not come to save a part of you, but the whole of you.  From the inside out, He will make of you one who is in His image.  Therefore, this passage is true.  If the righteous fear, what should those who take these things so lightly do?  This does not even consider the ungodly who hate the Lord.

Lord, my heart does need to often reconsider what I think about faith.  I do sometimes think way too lightly of these things.  Yet, I cannot save myself, so being all somber and serious cannot be the answer either.  Lord, lead me.  This alone is the answer.  You must lead and I must follow.  Guide me in the upward way of faith so that I may walk humbly with You leading my Lord and Savior.

Lord Jesus, You told us to take upon ourselves Your yoke and walk with You.  At times salvation seems so easy and at other times, it seems impossible.  Guide me dear Lord in the way You know I need to go.  Help me to understand that only in You is there any hope at all.  Keep me from the way of the ungodly and help me on the path of righteousness which You have set before me.  Amen.